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We met with Guildwood Village Storyteller Yvonne Garson this morning on the beautifully restored staircase inside the Guild Inn where she told us the story of the Ghosts of Guildwood. Many of you will know Yvonne from the Guildwood Village Library.

Thank you so much Yvonne for sharing this story. And Congratulations on your Retirement!

Also thanks to The Guild Inn Estate for letting us make this video inside, it was a little cold outside 🙂

For more stories like this, please join Yvonne’s group called Eastend Storytellers at Morningside Library. They meet on the 3rd Wednesday each month at 6:30pm until 8pm. For more details, please contact yvonnegarson at gmail dot com.

If you have a Guildwood Village story to share on camera, please contact us.

We met up with John Mason, President of Friends of Guild Park to hear about the proposed use of the Sculptor’s Cabin in Guild Park.

“After being closed for more than 30 years, Guild Park’s “Sculptor’s” cabin is being considered for future use as a small-scale welcome/activity centre for park visitors.”

“The volunteer groups that organize events and activities at Guild Park recently submitted a proposal to the City of Toronto. The report identifies many ways to partner with the City’s Arts Services division for re-opening and using this small, 230-sq.-ft. cabin, located near the front entrance of Guild Park.

In this 3-minute video, John Mason, President of Friends of Guild Park, gives some background about the cabin and how it might be used by park visitors in the summer of 2019. It’s another step forward in the remarkable and ongoing revitalization of Guild Park & Gardens, 201 Guildwood Pkwy., in Toronto’s Guildwood Village.

The Sculptor’s Cabin proposal is by the Guild Park Stakeholders Group, made up of volunteers from Friends of Guild Park, Guild Festival Theatre, Guild Renaissance Group and the Guildwood Village Community Assn.(GVCA).”

John P Mason, President of Friends of Guild Park, joins me to provide answers and insights into the Pioneer Log Cabin in The Guild Park.

Whether you’re in the passenger seat driving north to the cottage or staying home in Guildwood Village for the Simcoe Day long weekend, we hope you will enjoy this video which we made in response to the Log Cabin Questions we posted earlier in the week.

1) Did Augustus Jones or Lord Simcoe build this cabin? That may or may not be a trick question.
2) How many rooms are in this cabin?
3) Who was the last Guild of All Arts artist-in-residence to use this cabin?

“The story of Guild of All Arts artist, Elizabeth Fraser Williamson, is told in this conversation between the late artist’s daughter, Sara, and John Mason, President of Friends of Guild Park

This six-minute video was recorded at the 2018 Guild Alive with Culture Arts Festival at Guild Park. During the chat, Sara Williamson holds one of her mother’s charming sculptures. It’s entitled “Thoughtful Scratch” and depicts a bear in a quizical pose.

This bear figure was among the works that Elizabeth Fraser Williamson, loaned to schools throughout Scaborough to enhance students’ appreciation of art.

Elizabeth Fraser Williamson was the last professional artist to live and work on the grounds of what is now Guild Park.Sara explains what her mother did as the Guild’s resident artist, from the early 1970s to 1995.

During that period, Elizabeth Fraser Williamson continued the legacy of the Guild of All Arts, a unique artists community launched on the site in 1932 by art patrons, Rosa and Spencer Clark. A commemorative plaque about the artist is found near Guild Park’s pioneer log cabin, in the south section of the park.

The City of Toronto owns almost 200 piece of Elizabeth Fraser Williamson’s work, most of which have remained in storage for more than 15 years since the artist’s death.

Sara has started a petition requesting City of Toronto officials to begin publicly displaying her rmother’s art, because it reflects “the vibrant heritage of Scarborough’s art community.”

Guild Park’s new Clark Centre for the Arts, scheduled to open in 2020, is an ideal location to showcase Elizabeth Fraser Williamson’s art. These works would make an appropriate rotating ehibition along the the artists’ studios and public art space in that structure.

Thanks go to Ulrik Westergaard, video blogger of the popular Guildwoodian site for producing this video, shot July 29, 2018. You can keep posted about Guildwood Village news and notable people by visiting facebook.com/guildwoodian” – John Mason, President of Friends of Guild Park